Merry Maids Tackles Big Game Stains

Merry Maids
Published: January 29th, 2013

Tips for Cleaning Up After Your Watch Party

January 29, 2013 // Franchising.com // Memphis, Tenn. – Does the Big Game mean a big party at your house? Food, drinks and rowdy friends make it fun, but cleaning up Big Game stains can be super difficult.

Merry Maids, one of America’s leading home cleaning services, has some great advice to keep food and beverage fumbles from ruining your furniture and carpets.

“Football parties are predictable when it comes to clean up,” said Debra Johnson, a training specialist with Merry Maids. “The most common spills involve beer, cheese dip, dipping sauces and red wine. And, if it's a rainy day, you may have to deal with muddy footprints.”

Johnson and the specialists who work at Merry Maids have huddled up to help party hosts clean fabrics and carpet with methods that won’t harm either surfaces or the environment. Here are their tips for the toughest party stains. (Note: it’s a good idea to test cleaning solutions on an inconspicuous area before attempting to remove any stain.)

• Beer:  It makes you want to cheer, but it often ends up on the floor or furniture. For fabrics, first soak up the excess then use a mild detergent and blot the spill. Then alternate with ammonia, blot, then vinegar, blot, then mild detergent again before you rinse with warm water. When dry, dust with baking soda and vacuum to remove both the stain and smell.

• Cheese dip: Warm and wonderful on a chip, but it’s like glue on fabrics. Start by blotting the stain with a 1:4 ammonia and water mixture, then blot with a mild detergent and water mix. Rinse with water. When dry, dust with baking soda and vacuum.

• Hot wings sauce: Spicy to the tongue, deadly to rugs and upholstery. Blot with a mild detergent and water mixture, then blot with a 1:4 ammonia/water mix. Follow that by blotting with 3-percent hydrogen peroxide until the stain is gone. Rinse with water and blot. (Note: this process also works on chili stains.)

• Red wine:  A toast to one of the toughest stains around! For fresh red wine stains, use white wine, blot and rinse. For dried stains, use white wine, blot, a 1:4 ammonia/water mix, blot again, then rinse and blot dry.

• Muddy footprints: The Big Game always attracts a lot of happy feet. Use a mild detergent and water mix and blot the stain. Rinse with water and blot again until gone.

Of course, the easiest way to get rid of Big Game stains is to call Merry Maids. Its team of home cleaning specialists is the real champion when it comes to deep cleaning your home. To find the Merry Maids location nearest you, visit www.merrymaids.com.

About Merry Maids

Merry Maids is the largest home cleaning franchise network in the world. Merry Maids provides services in 49 states and the District of Columbia through approximately 70 company-owned locations and 400 franchised outlets. The company also provides home cleaning services in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom and has licensing arrangements whereby licensees provide these services in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia. Through its company-owned and franchise locations, Merry Maids employs more than 8,000 home cleaning professionals that service homes on four continents, including more than 325,000 homes in North America every month. Merry Maids is a subsidiary of The ServiceMaster Company, one of the world's largest residential and commercial service networks. The company’s brands include Terminix, TruGreen, American Home Shield, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec. Go to www.merrymaids.com for more information about Merry Maids or follow us at twitter.com/MerryMaids and facebook.com/MerryMaids.

About ServiceMaster

With a global network of more than 6,900 company-owned, franchised and licensed locations, Memphis-based ServiceMaster is one of the world's largest residential and commercial service networks. The company's high-profile brands are Terminix, TruGreen, American Home Shield, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec. Through approximately 21,000 corporate associates and a franchise network that independently employs over 31,000 additional people, the ServiceMaster family of brands provided services and products to approximately 8.1 million customers during the last 12 months. Our market-leading brands provide a range of residential and commercial services including termite and pest control; lawn, tree and shrub care; home warranties and preventative maintenance contracts; furniture repair; home inspections; home cleaning; janitorial services; and disaster restoration. Go to www.servicemaster.com for more information about ServiceMaster or follow us at twitter.com/ServiceMaster or facebook.com/TheServiceMasterCo.

Contacts:

Gina Evans Kamler
901-597-1380
Gina.kamler@servicemaster.com

Peter Tosches
901-597-8449
Peter.tosches@servicemaster.com